“I’m Bellia Ronica. Nice to meet you, Lady Canterif.”

Even though it had been a long time since I’d seen her face, all my memories of her came flooding back as soon as I saw her.

Elin Canterif.

The esteemed daughter of Duke Canterif, head of the Imperial Council, considered the pinnacle of all power.

However, she had a particularly poor relationship with Bellia.

“We’ll be seeing each other often from now on.”

Though her attitude was very bright and polite, Bellia knew.

In that fleeting moment, Lady Canterif had looked her up and down with a disapproving glance.

‘…It looks like we won’t be getting along this time either.’

She didn’t particularly want to be close friends, but she also didn’t want to have to be on guard all the time.

“This is your first time in the Empire, isn’t it, Princess? If there’s anything you don’t know, please ask. I’ll help as much as I can.”

“Oh my. I’m grateful for the young lady’s warm heart. I look forward to your guidance.”

Bellia and Lady Canterif smiled at each other, wearing masks of gentle expressions.

But they had already realized that they disliked each other quite a bit.

Bellia would never ask her for anything or inquire about anything. Though they both knew this fact clearly, they exchanged greetings pretending otherwise.

“Bellia.”

“Ah, Callid.”

Callid, who had returned at some point, approached Bellia’s side.

“I was just greeting Lady Canterif.”

“I see.”

Callid wrapped one arm around Bellia’s waist and used his other hand to tidy her hair.

“Didn’t you say you were thirsty?”

“I’ll have a drink in a little while.”

As if he had no interest whatsoever in Lady Canterif, his gaze was fixed solely on Bellia.

“Second Prince, Your Highness. It’s been a while.”

Elin Canterif lightly grasped her skirt and greeted Callid. But Callid didn’t even turn his head in her direction as he spoke.

“Ah. The young lady looks well too.”

His attitude showed he had no intention of conversing.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Your Highness at a party.”

“…Where did my elder brother go? Why is the young lady alone? I heard you’re getting engaged soon.”

It was clearly telling her to stop bothering him and go to her fiancé Raul.

Elin bit her lip, swallowing her resentment.

At first, it had been amusing to see the cold, arrogant prince who only cared about himself desperately clinging to someone, but now it just made her feel sick to her stomach.

‘…How unfitting!’

What was so special about that princess!

Where had Raul gone off to now!

Why should she have to feel this pathetic in front of them?

Elin Canterif was the Empire’s most noble young lady.

With no Imperial Princess, there was no unmarried woman who could surpass Lady Canterif’s influence.

‘Bellia Ronica…!’

She really disliked her.

But Elin smiled and answered as sweetly as possible.

“His Highness Raul said he had something to discuss with His Majesty and stepped away for a moment.”

“I see.”

Callid responded indifferently, as if he wasn’t very interested despite having asked.

Feeling people’s gazes increasingly focusing on them, Bellia removed Callid’s hand.

“Why?”

“Stop it. It’s rude to the young lady.”

Though it was a very quiet exchange, Elin seemed to have heard it, as she forced a smile with tightly drawn lips.

“…It seems I’ve been a bother to you two. Well then, Princess Bellia. I’ll see you again later.”

“I’m sorry, young lady. I’ll make it up to you. Let’s have tea together sometime.”

“Yes. Well then.”

Elin turned on her heel and disappeared.

“Why are you being so mean to the young lady?”

“I don’t usually talk to just anyone.”

Bellia frowned at his arrogant tone.

‘Well, he was originally this kind of personality…’

When she first met him, he had been infinitely cold and indifferent.

She kept being surprised, having completely forgotten all those aspects of him.

But there was a need to manage his image a bit.

There was no reason to make enemies everywhere unnecessarily.

“…Callid.”

Just as Bellia was about to quietly open her mouth.

Crash!

With the sharp sound of breaking glass, the surroundings became noisy. It seemed someone had spilled a drink. Bellia glanced over in that direction. She vaguely remembered something like this happening before.

“Huh…?”

It was strange.

Back then, Lady Canterif had spilled a drink on some baroness’s daughter.

“I’m so sorry, my lady.”

This time, a young man had spilled wine on the baroness’s daughter.

“Bellia. What’s wrong?”

The person had changed.

The incident was the same, but the main character was different.

‘…Is the future changing?’

Bellia felt pleased about this fact, but also a little uneasy.

Bellia asked while examining the documents she received from Callid.

“The progress is slower than expected, isn’t it?”

What Bellia was holding in her hands now was a report on the illegal gambling facilities that Raul was investigating.

“He suddenly left for the Kingdom of Ronica just when he should have been taking action, so it can’t be helped.”

Callid shrugged as he answered.

After returning to the Empire, Raul had resumed the work he had put on hold until now. Perhaps because of this, things were progressing more slowly than Bellia had anticipated.

It seems they’ll have to keep watching for a while longer.

“I’ll have to put my method on hold for now.”

Timing-wise, Raul probably hadn’t fallen into gambling yet. In such a situation, if we interfere carelessly, we might end up being the ones in trouble instead.

Although Raul had been thoroughly defeated by Callid in the Kingdom of Ronica, that didn’t mean he was incompetent.

“As I felt at the party too, the future is changing little by little.”

It was too risky to interfere rashly.

Many things had already twisted.

So there was no guarantee that everything she said about the future would come true.

“For now, it would be best to leave him be and wait for the decisive moment.”

Callid nodded at Bellia’s words.

From now on, they needed to judge according to the situation. And that was an area Callid excelled in.

“If the future you experienced is changing bit by bit, it becomes important to accurately grasp the timing.”

“That’s right. It’s something I absolutely can’t do alone. I need your strength.”

Callid wore a confident expression.

“Don’t worry. As you’ve found out, I have quite a lot at my disposal, don’t I?”

Callid smiled mischievously.

Bellia gently grasped Callid’s hand with a look that said she believed in him.

Then Callid asked in a subtle voice.

“Don’t you think we’re a really good match? What you can’t do are the things I’m good at. And you know everything that I don’t know. Isn’t this a perfect combination?”

Seeing Callid speak so seriously, Bellia glanced at him with a sulky look.

“Stop trying to brainwash me like that.”

“If you know, why don’t you just give in a little?”

Callid put his hand on Bellia’s head with a disappointed voice.

“I’m not an easy person to deal with, you know.”

“That’s quite unfortunate.”

Callid messed up Bellia’s hair thoroughly.

“Callid!”

Bellia was about to burst out in anger, but Callid quickly removed his hand and changed the subject.

“More importantly, that Raul fellow must be furious by now.”

Callid grinned with a mischievous face as he looked at Bellia’s confused expression.

“The gift I mentioned then. It should have arrived today.”

“Ah…”

He must be talking about the spies Raul had planted.

Bellia urged him to tell her more.

“From knights to servants, cooks… He had hidden them well in various places.”

No way…

“Did you kill them?”

“No. I know you’re trying to change my image, so I couldn’t just kill them recklessly.”

Callid said with a proud face, puffing out his chest.

“At first, I thought about killing them all and then sending them as a gift to that Raul fellow, but I held back thinking of you.”

Seeing his face looking at her as if asking for praise, Bellia went along with it.

“You did well. How did you handle the spies?”

“I fired them all overnight. The charge is insulting the royal family. Since it will go to trial, they’ll take care of it on that end.”

“You did well. Raul must be quite annoyed.”

It would be fun to go and watch that scene.

“Anyway, it’s now impossible for him to track my movements, so this will bother him quite a bit.”

“For the time being, I’ll personally select the people entering the Second Prince’s Palace. If it’s a face I know, I can filter them out.”

There’s no way Bellia wouldn’t recognize Raul’s people.

‘There’s no need to keep unnecessary risks.’

They decided to wrap up the internal affairs to this extent.

Since the events in the Kingdom of Ronica had drawn so much attention, now was the time to lie low for a while.

So for now.

“I should prioritize establishing myself in high society.”

There will certainly be those who interfere. But if we proceed as planned from the Kingdom of Ronica, there won’t be room for them to intervene.

Seeing Bellia’s confident expression, Callid asked curiously.

“Do you have something in mind?”

“I’m thinking of doing charity work.”

“What kind?”

Bellia had been talking about changing perceptions from the bottom of the Empire before.

Charity work was another method for that.

‘Lady Canterif would never do this, so it will be even more effective.’

Above all, having the support of many imperial citizens as the Second Prince’s consort has symbolic significance.

“First, I’ll start by sponsoring orphanages. After that, I’m thinking of supporting struggling artists.”

Having thought about this for a long time, there was no hesitation in her words.

“And finally, I’d like to shift towards the pharmaceutical business, but anyway, I want to present a way for imperial citizens to treat their illnesses affordably.”

As in the past, she really wanted to proceed with the pharmaceutical business.

“In the end, life and death are the most important issues for the imperial citizens.”

Moreover.

“If we start now, we’ll be able to see greater benefits later.”

An unprecedented cold wave will come next winter.

“Is this about that heavy snowfall you mentioned?”

As expected, he understands immediately.

Callid remembered all the numerous stories Bellia had told on the day she confessed about her regression.

“Yes. There will certainly be so much snow that even moving around will be difficult. Of course, many people will starve or freeze to death in the cold.”

“…Hmm.”

“We know about this in advance. We can’t prevent natural disasters. But we can prepare for them.”

Bellia grinned.

“We’ll be able to help them in the many facilities I’ve built through charity work.”

If that happens, Callid’s recognition will naturally increase, and voices praising the Second Prince’s abilities will grow louder among the imperial citizens.

“To do that, we need to prepare from now.”

Bellia picked up a basket from the floor and placed it on the desk.

“What’s this?”

“Invitations that have arrived for me.”

How could so many invitations have arrived to pile up like this?

Callid looked at the invitations with a daunted expression.

“I’m going to select a few from these. If there’s anything different from what I know, please tell me.”

She wanted to make a definite decision after thorough investigation, as there might be other facts that Bellia didn’t know.

“Ask me anything, Bellia.”

Callid gladly responded to her request, seeming pleased.